Illusions of Shadows
by HopeTheCrazyCat
Summary: Yugi is just a young boy, dreaming of adventure. However, one day fate is pushing him head first onto the biggest adventure of his lifetime: the comet is nearing the earth and it is only up to him to safe it and not let the tragedy of the past repeat itself. AU! Is going to contain Replayshipping (Yugi x Rebecca), but the focus is more on the adventures.


AN: I probably shouldn't start posting this story because it is still very much WIP. While I do have a complete outline of it, I'm unfortunately still stuck with a huge writer's block on chapter 5 because I do not only suck at writing the dungeon parts of this story, but I also don't really know what exactly to do with the sky garden.

This is an AU fanfiction – it is basically the story of the video game "Illusion of Gaia" / "Time of Illusions" (depending on where you live) with the Yu-Gi-Oh! cast.  
There is going to be some Replayshipping (Yugi x Rebecca) later on (and possibly one other romantic relationship), but the focus lies on the adventures.

I hope you'll enjoy the read!

* * *

 **Illusions of Shadows – Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Journey**

* * *

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson.

Finally! The last class for today.

Oh. Hi there.  
Let me introduce myself.  
My name is Yugi Mutou. I'm going to become an archeologist when I grow up.  
Just like my grandfather and my father before me.  
I guess it runs in the family, you could say.

My grandfather is too old for adventures now so he's running a game shop in our small town.  
And my father… is dead.  
We had been on an expedition – my father, the father of my best friend, Jonouchi, and I – and the only one who returned from it was me without any memory of what had happened. I don't even know how I made it back.

Everyone said that he died, but I'm sure that he's still alive, somewhere out there.  
Jonouchi thought so, too, about his own father.  
And I decided that one day – as soon as I'm finally an adult – I will travel the world and look for him…

"Yugi! We'll meet at our usual spot after lunch, okay?" Anzu, another good friend of mine and fellow classmate said.

Jonouchi and Honda agreed and were already on their way out the door.  
I quickly finished packing my backpack and waved to my friends before I also hurried home.

Domino was actually a small town located at the Southern Ocean.  
Here never anything new or interesting happened.

The game shop of my grandfather, which was also our home, was built on top of a hill. It was quite a hike but had a great view over the entire town.

As I mentioned before he used to go on many adventures in his younger years. But he was also a bit of a gambler and therefore had been drawn to many different kind of games from all over the world.  
Now that he had become too old to travel around like that and had settled down in this quiet town, he had opened up a game shop where he sold a lot of his strange findings from back then, among other and probably more "normal" games and toys.

Caught up in my thoughts, I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings and ended up bumping into something… or better said someone, I noticed as I looked up from the ground.  
The impact had caused me to fall on the ground, but the person I ran into was standing upright and tall, almost solid like a stone wall.

I was a bit dumbfounded at first because the person was definitely a stranger, which was kind of a rare sight in our town.  
But not only had I never seen this person before, there was also something very strange about him. And it wasn't only his odd clothes, which were something like a beige-colored robe and a matching turban on his head.  
He just had a strange air around him… like he emitted some sort of otherworldly aura or something…

"I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I…" I started to apologize, but suddenly the stranger spoke up, interrupting me.

"The time has come. The comet is coming closer. Be prepared, young one, for the destiny that awaits you." he said cryptically.

What?

My eyebrows furled when I asked, "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"My name is Shadi. We will meet again, young one." he answered shortly before continuing on his way.

"Hey! Wait…!" I tried, but it was futile.

He was already gone, apparently ignoring my calls.

What the hell was all that about?

Oh, well…

I decided to ignore this strange meeting for now and proceeded on to home.

"I'm home!" I shouted as I entered the shop, the little bell over the door chiming with my entrance.

"Ah Yugi, you're back. How was school?" my grandfather greeted me happily.

Yep, this was my grandpa, Sugoroku Mutou.  
And this game shop was also the place where we both live together – I think I did mention that before, didn't I?  
Well, there was a separate living area in this house, which was located right above the shop. I even had a room of my own up there.  
Seeing as not only my father, but also my mother was dead, he's the one who's currently raising me.

Grandpa turned over the sign at the door of the shop, signaling to anyone outside that it was lunch break right now and we moved to the kitchen.  
We quickly cooked something up together and then sat down to eat, all the while talking about how school or the business day was.  
As we ate grandpa suddenly picked up a different topic. Apparently something that was written in the newspaper.

"Did you hear that the princess went missing? But by the looks of it she wasn't kidnapped, but actually ran away on her own…"

"Hmm…"

Why would a princess run away from her castle?  
That sounded… kind of odd.

"If I'm not mistaken she must be around your age, Yugi. Maybe a little bit younger."

"Really? I didn't know that."

Honestly. I had no idea that she's this young, but then again, it's probably not that important.

"Maybe you could try to keep an eye open for her when you're playing outside with your friends?"

"Yeah, sure." I said.

With that we finished our lunch, quickly cleaned up and grandpa opened the shop again while I left to meet up with my friends at our secret base.

"Bye, Grandpa!"

"Bye, Yugi! Be back at dinnertime! And take care!"

Well, we called it our 'secret hideout', but in truth it was only a small cave in the cliffs near the harbor.

Just as I entered, I found Jonouchi and Honda already there and absorbed in a conversation.

"It's really amazing! He always draws the card that he needs to win at the right moment!" Jonouchi exclaimed loudly.

"That's really unbelievable!" Honda answered in the same tone.

"And it's not only with cards! Dices! Or any kind of other game! You name it! It's like he's got gaming-luck as some kind of ability or something…! Oh, hey Yugi! We were just talking about you!"

They both finally noticed me after I entered and joined them at the little wooden table we had set up, sitting on one of the two still available chairs out of the four that we had in total in here.

Looks like Anzu wasn't here yet…

"I was talking with Honda about those gaming skills of yours. Come on, show them to us again!" Jonouchi asked of me.

Just as he said that, the last member of our little group showed up and took also a seat.  
She was quickly filed in on the topic and then got also excited to see my skills.

I never thought too highly of them myself and figured that it was just another thing that ran in the family, seeing as my grandfather used to be a great gambler. Or it was due to growing up in a game shop and having always loved to play with all sorts of different games, trying out everyone single one that we had ever since I was very little.  
At any rate, I wasn't giving it too much thought and didn't feel as excited about it as my friends were.

So, we ended up spending our whole afternoon on playing all sorts of games together of which I won every single one…

Seeing as it was getting late, Anzu was the first to leave and I soon after had to leave, too, having promised grandpa to be home in time for dinner.  
Jonouchi and Honda decided to still stay for a bit longer and continued to play something together.

As I left the cave, a cool, salty breeze blew in my face and through my tri-colored hair.  
It actually felt kind of nice after the many hours in our hideout where it had gotten a bit warm and stuffy over the time we spent there.

I made me way back home, taking the same route as always, walking on the streets that were only barely lit by the last rays of the sun that still reached over the horizon before they would vanish completely into the ocean.

As I got back and entered through the backdoor since the shop was already closed up at this hour, I was surprised to be greeted by not my grandpa in the living area, but by someone else…

"A… bear?"

Indeed, there was a small bear in the hallway – actually just a cub – looking innocently up at me with its big, dark brown eyes.

What was a bear doing in our house?

The answer to that question followed quickly.

"Stay away from Teddy!" a voice, which sounded like it belonged to a girl rang through the room.

That yell was accompanied by the hurried stomping of footsteps, which came down from the stairs.  
Before I knew what happened a young, blonde-haired girl with freckles stood in front of me, glaring at me with her bright green eyes and had her hands propped up on her hips in a very demonstrative manner, shielding 'Teddy' from me.

This girl must have been the bear cub's owner, but that still didn't answer my question. It only raised a new one.

Okay, so why were a bear AND a strange girl in my house?!

"What are you even doing here?!" she questioned me.

"Hey! I should be the one asking that! What are you doing in my home?!" I shouted back, being a little fed up with the girl's attitude.

But as soon as I had said that her demeanor changed a little and there was suddenly a look of surprise on her face, making her look quite a bit younger than before, all of a sudden.  
I guess she was around my age or maybe one or two years younger than me, perhaps…

"You live here? Could you be Yugi?" she asked.

How did she know my name?

Oh, maybe grandpa had told her?

Come to think of it, where was he?

"Yeah, that's my name. And you are…?" I asked in return while lifting an eyebrow.

I probably came off as being annoyed, but actually I kind of was.

She blushed at my question and seemed quite flustered when she answered almost shyly "My name's Rebecca…"

Rebecca?  
Hmm…

I don't think my grandfather ever mentioned her name before…  
Maybe she was a complete stranger that even my grandfather didn't know of before.  
Then why did he actually let her in?

And, where was he?!

"Where is my grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou?" I asked her sternly.

She looked a bit crestfallen, but answered solemnly "He's upstairs and…"

"HALT! This instant!" she got interrupted by one of two people who just burst through the door.

What was going on here?!

And how dare they just forcing their way in other people's home?!

But before I could open my mouth to protest about the intrusion, I noticed what these two men were wearing.

They were soldiers!  
Royal soldiers sent from the castle, no doubt about that!

But what were they…

"Princess Rebecca! Here you are! We finally found you!"

"Princess…?" I almost shouted in disbelieve as I looked back at her.

I suddenly remembered what grandpa had told me at lunch.  
She was that run-away-princess…?

"No! Stay away! Don't come any closer!" she shouted and backed away, but there wasn't much space in our small hallway and so she was soon cornered with her back against a wall.

Despite her yelling and defensive actions the soldiers kept steadily approaching her, not even thinking about obeying one of those orders.

"Please, Princess. We were ordered to bring you back to the castle. Your parents are really worried about you and if we fail to return you back home, we'll be losing our heads. So please reason with us." the soldier said as he came to stand in front of her.

"It's not my problem whether you lose your head or not!" she yelled and tried to sidestep and escape from him, but the other soldier was still there, too, and grabbed her arm, successfully capturing her.

"NO! LET ME GO!" Rebecca shouted with all her might and struggled as much as she could, but the first soldier took hold of her other arm, turning her efforts into vein.

"We're very sorry, princess." the soldiers apologized as they lifted her up like this and began to carry her out.

"H-hey!" I said, blocking their path out.

I wasn't sure why I was interfering with this, but the way it looked like right now was that these two men were abducting a young girl, right at my home, right in front of my eyes!  
And I couldn't just let that happen!

"We're sorry for the inconveniences. Here." One of the soldiers only answered and threw me some money, most likely thinking that I was angry about the busted door.

"Ah… no, that's not…" I tried to keep my stance, but got easily pushed aside by those men who were a lot stronger than me and just left the house, not even sparing me a second glance.

"No! Yugi, please help me!" Rebecca shouted as they retreated with her, but I felt like I was unable to do anything.

Generally speaking, this wasn't MY problem.  
I mean the princess ran away from the castle for whatever reasons and just so happened to show up in my house and now these soldiers were just doing their job and brought her back to where she belonged. Her home, the castle…

Wordlessly I stared after them and watched as the tiny bear followed them silently and obediently.  
After they were out of sight I could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.  
I turned around to see my grandpa who looked at me questioningly.

"What was that ruckus? What happened?" he asked.

"Soldiers came and took Rebecca. Said they're bringing her back home…" I answered almost emotionless.

"Oh… I see…" My grandfather only answered, looking quite sad.

We didn't talk anymore after that, at least not till we sat down at the table that grandpa had already sat up and began to eat the dinner that he had prepared.

Of course, eventually, during the silent meal a conversation was started up and the topic was obviously the princess.  
However halfway through, it seemed to switch to someone else…

"The king has seemed to change a lot recently, too…" grandpa sighed.

"What? You know him personally?" I asked him a bit surprised.

"Of course! We used to be really good friends. Back in the day we would go on adventures together and stuff like that. But, well… that was quite some time ago… before he became king…" my grandfather paused as if reminiscing about some fond memories.

Then he suddenly continued "But you know what? I actually helped him when he had his castle build!"

"You really did?" Again, I could only be amazed by my gramps.

"Yep. You know, the castle has all sorts of secret passageways. And the underground dungeon has even the layout of a maze…"

Excitedly grandpa kept talking about all of the amazing secrets that the castle had, even continuing to do so after we were finished with dinner already.

After dinner and gramps' long talk I eventually went to bed, feeling dead tired.

And this night I dreamed of a big adventure…

* * *

The very next day, after going through the usual morning routine in the bathroom and joining grandpa at the table for breakfast, I was greeted by a mysterious envelop.

"Oh, Yugi. This morning a letter arrived for you. It seems to be from the king. You should hurry and look what's inside!" gramps urged me, seeming a lot more excited over this than I was.

I carefully took the clean, white envelop into my hands and examined it.  
Sure enough the seal that was on it, was the royal crest, proving that this letter must indeed have come from the king himself.  
I didn't waste any more time and opened it, then unfolded the piece of paper that was inside it and began to read.

The content of the letter made it apparent that I was being invited to the castle, but it was lacking an explanation as to why the king wanted to see me.  
However, there was one mysterious line written in it that told me to 'bring the puzzle along'.

Puzzle? What puzzle?  
I had no idea what they could mean with that and quite frankly I wasn't so sure if I should actually follow the invitation and go…

"What does it say, my boy?" grandpa asked me, almost anxious now.

"It's an invitation to the castle, but states no reason as to why they summon me… I'm not really sure if I should go." I expressed my worries.

My grandpa looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered "I think you should go anyways. I'm not sure what he could want from you, but I think you should hear him out."

He looked a bit worried, but smiled at me encouragingly.

I still had my doubts, but… how bad could it be?  
And maybe I'll get to hear what that puzzle could be that they were mentioning in the letter.

So, I grabbed my backpack and got ready to set off to the castle.  
Before I left though grandpa stopped me shortly and handed me something.

"I hope you won't have to use this, but if you should get in trouble it might be useful."

The item that he handed me was a small, golden rod, which had a very strange design.  
At its tip was a round piece that looked like an eye and two wing-like parts extending from it. From top to the bottom the rod was thinning down a little.  
All-in-all it resembles something like a unique scepter that an ancient king might have wielded once.  
The size of it was just about right to fit in the inside pocket of my jacket.

I really couldn't tell why he would give me this weird item, but if anything were to happen to me on my way to the castle it might come in handy.

So without any complaints I pocketed it and left the house.  
I went straight to the only entrance of our town and past it.  
The castle wasn't exactly next to my hometown, but it wasn't too far away either.

The march must have been two to three hours long and was very uneventful.

I had been already able to see the impressive castle from quite some distance ago, but from up close it was even more imposing, I noticed as I stared up at the castellation from the small bridge in front of it.

Not wanting to look like a hick who was staring in awe and with his mouth agape like an idiot right in front of the entrance, I pulled myself together and entered.  
Of course, I was instantly stopped by two guards who stood right by the huge doors.

"Halt! What business do you have here?!" one of them asked in an ordering tone.

"The king is expecting me." I merely answered and showed the letter as proof that I was indeed invited by him.

After checking the seal and skimming through the contents the guard nodded and led me further inside to what must be the 'front hall' if you could call it that.

"Please wait here while I inform the king about your arrival." he curtly said before marching off, leaving me standing where I was alone.

I glanced through the hall, which was laid out with some very expensive-looking, long red carpet and lined with tall marble-pillars as well as guards positioned at almost every corner.  
Even though I was told to wait, boredom quickly settled in and I was curious if what my grandpa had told me was actually true.

So, after looking around and seeing that none of the guards nearby seemed to take any notice of me, I moved to one of the thick pillars as inconspicuously as possible and then right next to it where I was practically out of sight for anyone that would walk straight through the hall.  
I felt around at the wall next to the pillar for a bit and soon enough a tiny portion of the solid wall gave way and sunk into it as I pressed on it.  
Then the wall swung open, revealing a secret passage, just like gramps had said!

I snuck into the secret passageway and followed this way until the end, feeling my way around with one hand on the wall since it was too dark to actually see anything in here.  
If I remembered it right this one was supposed to lead me to the corridor where the room of the princess must be.

At the end of the passage I carefully open the secret door and slowly peek outside, looking out for any guards to make sure that I won't be seen.  
Seeing that the coast was clear, I left the dark and unlit passage and proceed to a door, which didn't look as huge as the other ones that I had seen so far, but it was definitely more impressive and well decorated.

Not wanting to be rude, I carefully knocked on the door only to be greeted by a familiar voice.

"Leave me alone!" a girl's voice yelled, clearly annoyed.

"Are you sure? Then I will leave." I replied loud enough for her to hear with a smile on my face and I was pretty damn sure that she wouldn't have said that if she knew who was standing in front of her door.

"Yugi?! No, wait!" the princess shoutedd and shortly after the door was yanked open and she stood before me with panic written on her face.

The anxious look vanished though as she saw me smiling at her and was replaced by one that was a mix of relief, surprise and… happiness?

"It's really you, Yugi. What are you doing here? How did you get inside the castle?" she immediately bombarded me with questions.

I raises my hands in a motion to stop the questioning and said, "Mind if I come in first? I don't really want to stand out here the entire time and probably end up getting seen by one of the guards."

She gasped and looked as if she just remembered something.

"Of course. Please come in."

She moved aside so I could enter her room, which looked just like you would expect the room of a princess to look like.

The ceiling was high and painted in light pastel colors as well as the walls while the carpet, which was no less fancy than the ones in the halls was of a red color with what looked to be golden embroidery stitched into it.  
One part of her room looked like a lounge with a wooden table and two elegant chairs on either side of it. There was also an extravagant-looking couch nearby. Some dressers here and there rounded this part of her room up.  
From where I stood I could also see a little of what I would call her sleeping quarters, like the queen-sized canapé bed, which looked extremely comfortable.  
And next to that bed stood a basket. Though 'basket' was probably the wrong word for it as it looked more like a royal-pet-bed and sure enough the bear cub that I've seen before laid in it. It briefly lifted its head, blinked with his big, brown teddy-bear-like eyes at me and then laid back down and closed its eyes again.

"So, what are you doing here?" Rebecca asked after she closed the door and motioned for me to sit on one of the chairs at the table.

After I sat down and she also took a seat across from me, I answered. "Actually, I was invited by your father, but he stated no reason as to why. And also…"

I hesitated when the mysterious part of the letter came to my mind again.

"Also 'what'?" Rebecca urged me to continue.

"The letter mentioned something about a puzzle, but I have no idea what puzzle he's talking about. Do you have an idea?"

"No, I'm sorry. I don't know what he could mean, but…" she stopped and her head that had been slightly casted down as she had apologized, suddenly pulled up as she looked directly in my eyes with a serious expression on her face.

"Yugi, you have to help me! Lately my parents seem to have changed a lot. My mother, the queen, was always so gentle and kind, but now she's acting all cold and only seems to care about riches and power anymore. And my father who used to be so nice and merciful has turned cruel and is constantly starting wars with other kingdoms even though he always said to have peace with them before. I mean, just look at the castle! There's never been this many soldiers who were guarding the halls before and it always used to be a place where you could enter freely. Now you need permission from my father personally to be allowed to enter here. It's just not normal! I can't stand this anymore!"

At the end she broke down, crying pitifully.  
I think I could understand her worries a little.  
Grandpa was also very worried about the king who he was once really good friends with.  
I can see now what he meant when he said that Rebecca's father had changed a lot.

"Is this the reason why you ran away?" I asked, though the answer was already pretty clear.

Rebecca who had been wailing terribly and had lowered her head in the process so I wouldn't be able to see her pitiful face, lifted her head again and once more looked at me, but this time with determination… or, no, it was more like desperation.

"Please, Yugi. Take me with you. I don't care about this room or all the pretty presents I get every day. I don't care about the fancy clothes and the rich feasts. I don't even care about my title as princess of this kingdom. I just can't stand all of this anymore and least of all the behavior of my parents who hoard only more and more riches and take it from innocent people. So please, take me away from here!" she begged.

I wanted to reply to her, give her some sort of reassuring answer, but just as I opened my mouth I heard guards outside, yelling at each other.

"Have you seen him here?"

"No."

"Then look over there. I check here again. That boy must be somewhere in the vicinity."

I instantly shot up from my seat as I heard that.  
There was no doubt that they must be looking for me.  
Come to think of it, I WAS supposed to wait at the entrance hall and instead I had been talking with Rebecca for quite a while now.  
My absence would have been eventually noticed.

"I'll come back." I said hurriedly to Rebecca and walked over to the door.

Seeming to understand the situation she also stood up, but didn't move.

"I'll wait for you."

I once nodded at her before silently opening the door and peeking outside.  
No guards in sight. I had to hurry and get away from here.  
If I'm going to be found anywhere near the princess there's surely going to be trouble. Big trouble.

I quickly stepped out of Rebecca's room and silently closed the door behind me.  
Stealthily I attempted to return the same way that I came from, through the secret passage, but just as I felt around for the switch on the wall, an iron-glove-clad hand landed on my shoulder, which quickly turned me around to face its owner.  
I gulped audibly.

"The king is ready to see you. Follow me!" the guard said, not looking exactly happy nor sounding friendly but surprisingly also not acting as angry as I would have expected.

I silently nodded as I followed him through the hall.  
I'm really surprised, but also relieved that my sudden absence wasn't questioned as we silently walked on to what must be the throne room.  
We ended up halting in front of some huge double doors.

"The king is waiting for you inside." The guard only said and seemed to have no obligation to guide me any further than this.

Taking a deep breath and trying to mentally prepare myself as good as I could for whatever may await me inside there, I pushed against the doors and entered what indeed was the throne room.  
At the far end of the room, right across from me, was something like a pedestal on which stood two thrones.  
One of them was inhabited by a beautiful blonde-haired and blue-eyed woman.  
This must be Rebecca's mother, Queen Cecilia.  
She looked to be still relatively young, barely in her early thirties I would say.

And on the throne next to her sat none other than King Arthur.  
He looked to be almost as old as my grandfather, maybe a few years younger than him, but still…  
This was quite some age difference between them, making the two years between Rebecca and me look like nothing.

"You certainly took your sweet time, letting us wait like this." the harsh voice of the king rose up and echoed through the throne room.

I shrank a bit back at the tone and the words, clearly intimidated.  
Of course, someone had to remark about my little 'detour' in the castle.

"But we are willing to forgive him since he brought us the puzzle… he did bring it, didn't he?" the queen spoke in what sounded a fake kind voice.

Wait a second! Could it be that the only reason why I was invited to the castle was to hand them this puzzle?

"Well, actually… You see, you didn't specify which puzzle exactly you wanted me to bring. We have many puzzles in our game shop and certainly far too many to bring them all along to let you pick one. So, if you could just tell me what you had in mind…"

"Do not take us for a fool!" the queen interrupted, not even attempting to put up a kind façade anymore.

"You know exactly, which puzzle we want! Master K's puzzle-"

Master K? That's…

"-The puzzle that K, Kaadou Mutou, had found! And since you are his son, you must at least know of its whereabouts. So, where is it?!" the queen practically screeched the last sentence in a shrill voice.

The puzzle… that my father had found…?  
I've never heard of such a puzzle before nor what could be so special about it that the queen of all people would want it so badly.

"I really don't know of which puzzle you are talking about nor where it could be." I answered truthfully.

" _You don_ _'_ _t know where it is?_ " the queen said in a dark voice and her face has warped into a suddenly very ugly look. "Are you _sure_ , you want to stick to that answer?"

I only nodded as a response.  
It WAS the truth after all…

"In that case… GUARDS! Throw him in a cell and let him rot there till he finally remembers where it is!" she ordered.

Quickly, two guards who stood to the sides of the huge double doors grabbed me, taking a hold of my left and right arm each and before I could even react, I was dragged off to the dungeon and thrown into a chamber.

By the time I fully came back to my senses, I found myself laying on the dirty ground of a lone cell, facing up at the now closed hole through which they had thrown me down here.  
Iron bars were in front of me, a heavy ball and chain to my side and some chains with cuffs hanging from the wall, thankfully without a prisoner attached to them.  
Aside from those things the cell was bare.  
I was all alone and as I took a look at my surroundings as far as I could look outside of my cell, I seemed to be not only alone in my cell but also the sole prisoner in this entire tract of the dungeon.

I only sighed and plopped with my back against the wall.  
This really went great! Note the sarcasm here.  
But I had to admit that I was curious about that puzzle now.

I've already mentioned that my father, Kaado Mutou, was an archeologist and adventurer, but not only that. He was also extremely famous for some of his legendary finds.  
Even more so than my grandpa.  
Since my father wasn't one to care about fame at all though, he had liked to avoid giving out his name as much as he could.  
That's why the world only knew him mostly under the name Master K, though I have no idea who had given that name to him.

And my father must have apparently found a puzzle of high value of sorts.  
That's why the king and queen wanted it so badly, right?!  
But I've honestly never heard of him finding something remotely close to a puzzle and I can't recall grandpa speaking of anything like that either.  
I wonder what it must look like…

As I sat there propped against the wall, my thoughts started to wander off and only as it was starting to become late into the evening did I notice how sleepy I've became.  
My stomach was grumbling slightly as I've gotten nothing to eat since breakfast and it didn't look like I would be getting anything edible down here.  
But despite my hunger and the cold and dank feeling in this cell, tiredness took over me as I slowly drifted off.  
Though before slumber finally claimed me I could hear a voice.  
The voice was familiar and oddly enough it didn't really sound like it came from somewhere around me, but rather like it was inside my head…

"Yugi, you must prepare yourself. The comet is steadily approaching the earth-"

Comet? That sounded like what that strange man – Shadi – had told me before…

"-You must assemble the pieces of the puzzle. It is your destiny. If you won't, the tragedy will repeat itself!"

"What… are you talking about…?" I mumbled.

"Find the pieces! You must accept your destiny! Yugi!"

"What do you mean?! What is that tragedy from before?! And what is that puzzle?! Where can I find it?! Please answer me, father!" Even though it was impossible, I was pretty sure that the voice that I was hearing was my father's…

But there came no answer to my questions.  
No matter how long I waited there was only silence…

* * *

I don't know how much time had passed, but suddenly I heard something.  
It wasn't the voice of my father inside of my head like before though, but it actually came from outside of my cell.  
My eyes automatically snapped open and I stood up and went over to the bars, peering into the darkness to figure out what caused the noises.  
And, sure enough something came into sight.  
Something not entirely unfamiliar…

None other than Rebecca's pet bear came waddling over to me.  
It made something like a growling sound, but it sounded so meek that it was more like a whine.  
It was the exact same sound that woke me up.  
As I bent down to inspect the cub a little closer, I could see that he had two things bound around the collar on his neck.  
One was a piece of paper and the other was… a key?

I took both of the items and first unfolded the note, reading its contents.  
Sure enough the letter was from Rebecca:

"Dear Yugi,  
I've heard of what terrible thing my parents did to you.  
This is exactly what I was talking about to you before.  
My parents had never been like this, but now I don't even recognize them anymore…  
I've sent Teddy to you with this note and the key to the prison.  
I want you to flee from this castle, but I have to beg of you one thing.  
Please, take me with you on your escape.  
I can't stand it anymore.  
Please. That is the only thing that I'm asking of you.  
I will be waiting for you in my room.  
-Love, Rebecca"

She didn't need to worry.  
After all, I promised her to come back for her.  
Yes, I've made up my mind.  
I was going to escape from this castle and take her with me.

Without any hesitation, I used the key to open the cell door and stepped out.

"Well, come on then… Teddy. Let's go!" I told the baby bear and notice that he obediently trudged behind me as I led the way.

I had naïvely been thinking that this might be easy and the hardest part was to get out of the cell, but as I left the tract, I was in for quite a shock.  
Grandpa was right! This entire dungeon was build up like a labyrinth, but that wasn't all there was to it.  
This place was also inhabited by monsters!  
There really was no other way how to describe these creatures that were roaming the halls.  
And in fact, one of them was getting closer to me.

I instinctively took a step back, not sure how I should defend myself against this THING.  
Teddy was growling behind me, trying to sound dangerous, but again, he only sounded very meek and more pitiful. He was only a bear cub after all.

As that monster actually started to take a swing, my reflexes kicked in and I instinctively ducked.  
This caused a clanking sound and I looked at the floor in surprise only to see the rod that my grandpa gave me before my departure, laying there.

I'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THAT ONE ENTIRELY!

Before the monster had a chance for a second strike, I quickly ducked down, picked up the rod and prepared to fight back.  
I've never actually fought before, but my body seemed to move automatically as I dealt out hits and evaded and dodged any incoming attacks.  
Not before too long, the monster screeched and vanished in a black mist.

I was panting a bit, not exactly used to moving around that fast and that much and also probably a bit due to the adrenaline rush.  
After I caught my breath and calmed down a little again, I checked to see if Teddy was alright.  
He only looked up at me with his huge brown eyes and seemed to be fine.

"Okay, let's continue and try to avoid these… things as best as we can." I thought that I said this more to motivate myself than to him, but he gave a little sound as if answering anyways.

However, avoiding the monsters wasn't as easily done as it was said.  
As I continued my way through the maze-like halls, I kept encountering more and more of them.  
Some of them like the first one that attacked me, look humanoid – sort of – but had green skin and six red-glowing eyes and claws instead of hands. They were probably some kind of ghouls, I guessed…  
Some other looked like giant worms who only had a mouth full of razor-sharp teethes – the row of teethes going in a full circle around its jaws.  
But surprisingly I've managed to defeat the ones who crossed paths with me with little to no damage taken.

Still, were did all those monsters come from?  
Were they the reason why there were no other prisoners in this dungeon?

Just as I rounded another corner, I almost ran into someone.  
And it wasn't a monster, but actually a human.  
On top of that, one with a familiar face, too.  
It was the strange man who I've met before – Shadi!

"What? How did you get here?" I asked in surprise.

Did he end up getting captured, too, for telling random people weird stuff or something?

As if he hadn't heard my questions he said, "All of these monsters that you see down here are the souls of the inmates who were thrown in this dungeon."

"What?! These monsters were actually humans?! What happened to them?" I couldn't believe what I just heard.

How could something like that possibly happen?

"The reason as to why they changed is the nearing comet. But this is only the beginning. The closer it gets, the more you will notice the changes around you, around the entire world. Time is running thin. I've come to give you a present." He continued on mysteriously.

"A present? What is it? Something that could help getting out of here would be pretty nice right now."

"I'll be unlocking the power of darkness within you. This will enable you to change into the nameless dark warrior." As he spoke, he raised his hand in which he held an ankh-shaped object or actually something that looked more like a key.

He slowly approached me and I wasn't sure if I should edge away or stay and wait what he would do, but I guess the choice was taken of me as I found that my body was frozen to the spot.  
Shadi lifted the hand in which he held the mysterious object and brought it close to my face, more specifically to my forehead.  
He moved it so close that I expected him to ram it into my skull, but he didn't even touch me. Just short before he did, he stopped and twisted his wrist as if turning a key to open a door.

Suddenly, I felt a change within me and then as if my whole body was changing.  
I had the feeling that I was suddenly a bit taller and more muscular and like my eyes were sharper.  
Also, my clothes seemed to have magically changed, too.  
And I could suddenly hear a voice inside of me, which sounded a bit like my own but much deeper.

"I am the dark warrior and wield the power of shadows to destroy those creatures who were born from the darkness of the comet."

"The dark warrior? Am I supposed to call you that? Don't you have a name?" I asked, but notice that 'my mouth' wasn't moving and I could only hear it inside my mind.

"I have been given no name." the baritone voice answered back in my mind.

"How about I give you a name then? Won't feel as awkward talking to you when you have one, I think. So then… dark warrior, hmm? ...Then how about Yami as a name?" I know that it didn't sound like the best idea for a name, but it was the only thing that came to my mind right now.

"So, my name shall be Yami from now on? Understood, little one."

The conversation inside my head was interrupted by Shadi who was still standing in front of me.

"Defeat the monsters to release their poor souls."

And that was the last thing he said.  
After that he practically vanished in front of my eyes from one second to the other.

Defeat the monsters in order to release their poor souls?  
Well, I already did finish off a few of them, but there were still many more left.  
On the other hand, I still had some good ways to go to get out of this dungeon so might as well…

It was an odd feeling as 'I' continued on my way with the bear cub still in tow.  
It was hard to describe. Kind of like being in someone else's body, but only able to watch through their eyes and not in control of the body.  
But, no… this was still a bit different from that. It wasn't actually like I wasn't so much in control of my body.  
It was a bit like before when I fought against the monsters and my body moved practically on its own in battle as if it knew what to do.  
Yeah, this was almost the same just that it was a lot more permanent now.  
But it wasn't frightening. It was actually comforting.  
Like someone else was driving, but you had the safety that you could take over any time you wanted to again.

Ignoring the strangeness of the situation I – WE – proceeded on.  
And I got to experience rather quickly what Yami meant with 'wielding the power of shadows'.

On the next monster that we encountered he demonstrated them.  
It was a ghoul again who tried a sneak-attack on us.  
But Yami was one step ahead and quickly blocked its attack with the rod.  
While still blocking with one hand, he raised the other one with his open palm facing the monster's face and-

"Mind Crush!"

-shadows burst from the palm of his hand and towards the monster and destroyed it in one instant.  
Wow! With this kind of power, it's definitely going to be easier to get through the dungeon.

So, we continued our way through this seemingly endless maze, slaying all the monsters that we encountered in the process until we came to a relatively safe-looking area.

Seeing as there were no more monsters anymore, I took back full control and changed back to my original form.  
In front of me was a big door, but try as I might it didn't budge a single bit.  
As I looked around this room a bit more, I found two buttons as well. One on the wall in the far-left corner of the room and one on the wall on the exact opposite side of the room. The buttons were separated from the main room by a small corridor.  
It took me no time to figure out that the only way to open the door was by pushing both buttons at the same time.  
Wearily, I looked down at my little companion who looked innocently and with slight confusion back at me.

I sighed.  
I wondered if the bear would get what to do, but the even bigger question was how I could even make him reach the button on the other side of the room since they were both too high up for him to reach …

"Come to think of it… how did you even managed to come all the way to my cell?" I asked him.

Well, he probably used a small air vent or something where he could fit through, since I couldn't believe that he came all the way through this monster-infested maze on his own.  
I wouldn't have minded to take the same way back that he came, but even if I was rather petite in appearance, I would be clearly too big to fit through those…

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Push the button on your side on the count of three!"

What? Who's there?

"One…"

I really would like to find out who the person was that the voice belonged to-

"Two…"

-but I guess that'll have to wait for after this was done.

"Three!"

I pushed the button at the moment he said that and he must have done it at the exact same time because I could hear a noise coming from the direction of the door.  
As I went back down the corridor, I could have sworn I saw a shadow moving, but no one was there.  
Maybe it was just my imagination?  
However, whoever that other person was, he must have went ahead already since there wasn't anyone here anymore and the big door was standing wide open.

Considering that there wasn't much use in pondering over who the stranger that helped me out could be, I continued my way and stepped through the doors.  
I suddenly found myself in what seemed to be the cellar of the castle from the looks of it.  
There were a few barrels here, which must be filled with water and food and probably also with wine, standing along the walls.

Whew. Finally, out of that damn maze of a dungeon.  
Now I only needed to fetch Rebecca and then get out of this place.

Since I was back on 'normal' castle grounds I had to look out for the guards again who were patrolling the corridors even at night.  
I decided to use the same route with which I had travelled through the castle before – the secret passage on the first floor, which luckily wasn't too far away from the stairs that lead to the cellar where I was standing right now.

Without any complications, I and my furry companion managed to get to the hidden door and also finitely to Rebecca's room.  
I hurriedly knocked at the door, trying to be as quiet as possible while doing it and soon the princess opened it and let me in. Teddy, too, of course.

"Oh, Yugi. I knew you would come." she said relieved and I thought that I was able to see some tears in the corners of her eyes.

She then turned to the little bear. "You did a great job, Teddy. I'm so proud of you."

Teddy made a grunting sound as if answering to her.

"We should hurry and leave now." I reminded her.

The sooner we got out of here the better.

"Right. Oh, but we should probably pick up some provisions before we go." Rebecca interjected.

That did sound like a good idea, but I wasn't really sure if it would be worth the risk.  
The longer we moved around inside the castle, the higher was the risk that we were going to get caught.  
But Rebecca tried to reassure me that it was fine and she knew a secret passage that led directly to the storage room and it wasn't very far from here either.  
I could only give in to her and luckily without getting seen, we made it to the storage where we picked up some dried meat and then managed to get back to the corridor that led to the front entrance.  
And there we happened to encounter a huge problem, namely the guards who were guarding said entrance.

"This is just great! What are we supposed to do now? There's no way to sneak past them." I whispered so only my companions could hear me.

"Don't worry about that. I have an idea." Rebecca only said. Then she knelt down to Teddy and told something to the bear.

I could only raise an eyebrow in confusion as I watched the exchange, not able to catch a single word she said.  
Then, she just stood up again and Teddy started trotting directly to the guards at the entrance and… right past them.  
The guards instantly noticed the tiny bear that walked past them and started talking to each other.

"Isn't that the pet of the princess?"

"Oh, no! If the bear is here that means that the princess isn't in her room again!"

"Which means, that she's trying to run away again? Oh crap! When that happens we'll lose our heads for sure! HEY! WAIT UP!"

They both yelled and ran after Teddy who quickened his pace and effectively lured the guards away from the entrance.  
I blinked in surprise.

"Wow! How did you know that would work? And… wait a second! What is with Teddy? Are you just going to leave him behind?" I asked.

"No, don't worry. Teddy will catch up with us later. And I know that this would work because it also did the first time when I ran away." she answered with a cheerful smile.

I could feel a drop of sweat running down my head.  
To think that they fell for the same trick, twice…  
But instead of standing around and wondering over the intelligence of the force that is supposed to protect our kingdom, we had better hurry and finally get out of the castle so that Teddy's diversion wouldn't be in vain.  
And indeed, we made it outside with no further problems.

After we were a good part away from the castle, we took a little break to catch our breaths since we actually ran all the way.  
In this time Teddy also rejoined with us, having somehow managed to outrun his pursuers.  
So, back in full number and slightly rested, we continue our way to my hometown, Domino.

By the time we arrived there, the sun was already rising.  
The first few rays of the sun peeked over the horizon and let the beautiful wide ocean sparkle.  
As we arrived at the game shop, I had a bad feeling though.  
The door of the shop was slightly ajar.  
I slowly opened it the rest of the way and was greeted by… complete chaos.  
Nothing stood in the place that it used to, the floor was littered with games and whatnot – most of it broken – and all the shelves were completely emptied of its contents.  
Cold dread immediately settled in my stomach and I dashed to the living area where it didn't look one bit better than inside the shop.

"Grandpa!" I called out and hurried up the stairs, fearing the worst.

I searched the entire house, but couldn't find him anywhere and I couldn't tell if I should have felt relieved of not having found him badly injured or even… dead… or if I should have worried even more now.  
Rebecca had been searching together with me, but could also find no clues about grandpa's whereabouts.  
However, it looked like the house and the shop had been thoroughly searched and left in disorder.  
Surprisingly though, nothing of worth was taken. Even the money was still left in the cash register, meaning that this wasn't just a 'normal' robbery.  
But this revelation only made me worry more.  
The king had probably sent his guards to search our home for the puzzle that they had wanted!  
Suddenly though, there was a mysterious boy with blonde hair and tanned skin who practically appeared out of nowhere.

"Don't worry, Yugi. Your grandfather is fine." the boy said.

"Who are you? And why should we believe you?" Rebecca immediately interjected, clearly not trusting him.

But somehow his voice sounded familiar.  
Yeah. I recognized it as the one, which belonged to the mysterious person who helped me in the castle-dungeon with opening the big door.  
Since he helped me before I decided to trust him.

"Where is my grandfather right now?" I asked.

"Let me introduce myself first: My name is Marik. And your grandfather is currently in my village. He was brought to safety before the guards came and turned the house upside down." he answered.

Rebecca still seemed to not fully trust him, but we decided to leave for Marik's village anyways.  
So, after we finished with preparations, we set out to leave. However, just after we passed through the entrance of the village a voice stopped us.

"So, you're just going to leave without us?"

I turned around to see not only Jonouchi who had spoken but also Honda and Anzu.

"You're really going to leave, Yugi?" Anzu asked me, a sad expression on her face.

"It hurts that you want to go adventuring without your friends." Honda also chimed in.

"Guys…" I don't know what to say. Of course, my friends were very important to me, but this wasn't just another fun game. Something serious was going on here…

"I'm sorry guys, but this is going to be a really important and dangerous adventure. I can't take you along."

"What? Can't take us along 'course it's too dangerous? Then what about that girl?" Jonouchi asked and pointed at Rebecca.

"How rude you are! First of all, my name is Rebecca! And second, Yugi promised me that he would take me along!" she protested instantly.

Well actually, I only promised to help her get out of the castle.  
And then I had planned to get her to some safe place to stay at.  
Since the game shop was no longer an option after what happened here, I figured I might bring her to the place where grandpa was staying at…

"Well, Jonouchi… you see… um…" I tried to say something, but both the princess and my best friend were too busy bickering at each other to pay any attention to me.

I could only sigh.  
It seemed pointless.  
I was just about ready to give up and give in.  
However, someone managed to interrupt the two squabblers.

"Listen up! This is no fun trip! This is serious business and I really suggest that you just be good kids and stay here!" Marik shouted loudly.

"Don't tell us that we can't come along when this little girl is allowed to go with you!" Jonouchi argued back.

Of course, Rebecca huffed at the comment and was about to reply something to that, but Marik beat her to it.

"In all honesty, I think that the princess should also stay here. As I said, this trip is far too dangerous."

"What?! But Yugi promised me!" Rebecca whined.

"Yugi is our friend. And when he's going somewhere where it's dangerous then it's obvious that we won't let him go alone. We'll go with him no matter what you say!" all of my friends protested.

They had a strong look of determination on their faces, which in the end convinced Marik enough to give up.

"Okay… but don't complain or cry later on. I warned you ahead of time." he said with a sigh and continued to lead the way again.

My friends whooped in joy and gave me all a high-five.  
And from the looks of it, they must have really noticed that something big was going on because they all had some backpacks with them, which were obviously packed for a long trip.  
I really wondered how they knew, but then again these guys ARE my friends.  
They just knew me too well.

So anyways, we continued our journey, which looked like it might be longer than the trip to the castle of King Arthur.  
Somewhere along the way a bit of the excitement seemed to have left especially for Jonouchi who was starting to look bored.

"Where exactly are we heading again?" he asked

"To my village. The Secret Tomb-Keeper Village." Marik replied, still staring straight ahead as he walked on without stopping.

"Never heard of it." Jonouchi remarked.

I think that's the point of it…  
But I didn't speak my thought out loud.  
Sometimes I had to wonder a little about my best friend's intellectual capabilities.  
But he was a good guy who had the heart on the right spot.  
I couldn't help but feel so much more relaxed knowing that my friends are right by my side.  
Even though I didn't want to involve them in any danger.  
But I would be giving it my all to protect them when the time should come…

* * *

It was sometime late in the afternoon when Marik suddenly stopped walking and said that we arrived at our destination.

"What? But there's nothing here." Jonouchi remarked.

And he was right.  
We stood in a wide open and barren field.  
No houses or anything like that anywhere in sight.

"It wouldn't be a SECRET village if it were in plain sight now, would it?" Marik simply answered and took a few more steps.

Then he knelt down and wiped some sand away from the ground, revealing a small metal-ring.  
I noticed that the ring was actually a handle as the tanned boy pulled on it and opened a door that led underground.  
Our whole group entered even though it was pitch black down there, but fortunately Marik lit up a torch and continued to lead us.

This place looked like a tunnel-system that was spread through a big portion of the wasteland that we've seen above.  
And these tunnels were like a maze.  
If we hadn't had someone like Marik to guide us, we would have surely gotten lost down here and never be able to get out again.  
Even with my skills, I thought that I would have had trouble finding my way in these many dark tunnels…

But if I thought that the tunnel-system was amazing, then I was certainly in for a huge surprise as we came to a place that was without a doubt the village.  
The entire group – minus Marik – was in awe at the sight.  
This place was spacious though still completely underground of course and lit by many lanterns that lead up or down some stairs to what looked to be houses that were build out of stone just like the rest of the place and the entire tunnel-system.  
It really was an entire town that was built underground!

We didn't have much time to stand and stare as Marik continued on, walking to a specific house.  
It most likely must have been Marik's house and sure enough it was because after I entered I instantly saw a familiar face.

"Yugi!"

"Grandpa!"

My grandfather and I instantly hugged tightly and I thought I felt some tears at the corner of my eyes.  
I was so happy to have reunited with him and to see that he was alright and not hurt at all.

"Huh? Isn't that the princess? How come that she's here?" grandpa asked surprised, after spotting Rebecca.

I started explaining everything that had happened since I came to the castle: about the mysterious puzzle, Rebecca's plea and the odd behavior of the royals, my escape from the dungeon, then the escape with Rebecca from the castle and our trip in which my friends joined in.  
But during the telling, a few questions also started to rise, which demanded some answering.

"Marik, how did you know what was happening to me and my grandpa? And why are you even helping us?"

"I didn't know…" he answered simply. "I've been sent by my sister, Ishizu. And Yugi, I think that you should visit her. You can find her at the temple – that's the big building in the center of the village. You can't miss it."

I have to admit that I'm very intrigued by that mysterious Ishizu person.  
So, Marik didn't know what was going on.  
He only came because his sister told him to do so.  
Then how did she know about what was going on or more precisely what was going to happen?  
At any rate, I would find it out soon and so decided to immediately leave the house and go to her.  
But before I could do that my grandfather surprisingly stopped me.

"Yugi, before you go, I want to give you something…" as he said that he handed me something that looked like a small book.

"This is your father's diary. You probably may not remember it, but when you returned as the only one from the expedition, you had this book as well as the rod that I gave you earlier on. I'm not sure if it will be of any use to you, but I think that you should have it…" There was something in the words of my grandpa, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it what it was. It was just something about his tone…

Anyway, as he handed me the worn-out notebook, I looked at it in surprise.  
Could there be something about that mysterious puzzle written in it?  
But I will have to find that out later as I was making my way to Marik's sister now.  
Alone.  
My friends, no matter how curious they were, decided to stay with my grandfather for now and I was not really sure why, but I felt slightly relieved about that.

So, I walked to the temple and as Marik had described it, it was kind of hard to miss.  
In fact, the building wasn't just big, it was huge in comparison to all the houses around here.  
A bit weary, I enter the temple and looked carefully around.  
It was eerily silent and no one seemed to be around.  
The halls were completely empty.  
But suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice began to speak to me.

"I've waited for your arrival, Yugi Mutou. But please allow me to test you first."

"A test? What kind of test are we talking about?" I asked as I looked around, trying to pinpoint from where the voice was coming from.

"Your test will be three riddles that you need to solve in a certain amount of time. Ready? Then let's begin with the first one."

"Wait! I didn't…!" I couldn't even finish my protest against this surprise testing as I suddenly felt something going up my leg.

As I looked down to see what it was, I could actually see corpses, which crawled out of the ground and up on my body.  
They all grabbed on me, climbing slowly up my body and I could feel their hands clutching everywhere, even on my face as they held onto me in an uncomfortable and tight grip.  
I had no idea what was suddenly going on and felt like screaming, but something inside of me demanded of me to keep my cool and concentrate.

"What creeps on the ground and clings to pillars?"

This must be the first riddle!  
I tried to calm my racing heart and closed my eyes, trying to blend out the corpses and fully focus on the question.

'Creeps on the ground'… that's what the corpses were doing right now…  
And the 'pillar that they clung to' was me…  
So, if I am the pillar what are they?

"Your time is running out. What is your answer?"

As if in a flash, an answer came to my mind and I opened my eyes again, answering with confidence:

"The answer is 'shadows'! If the sun shines on a pillar there will be a shadow on the ground."

"Your answer is correct."

With those words the corpses vanished and the ground, from which they had emerged closed again and looked as if never anything had happened.  
It was really odd.  
Had it all been just an illusion?

"Then on to the second riddle. What has one eye, but cannot see?" the mysterious voice asked.

Right after the echo of those words had stopped ringing through the halls, I could see something in the darkness before me.  
A giant, single eye opened and stared at me.  
In complete shock, I stared back at it and the longer I stared the more I could see an outline of the thing, which must unmistakably be some sort of giant.  
It was cyclops!

Is that the answer?  
But no, putting the answer right in front of me would be way too obvious.  
Besides, the riddle said 'has one eye, but CANNOT see'…

"You have ten seconds left. Do you have an answer?"

Argh! Dammit! What could the answer be?!  
In frustration, I began to rub over my face, my cool and concentration completely blown out of the window by now.

"Ouch!" Thanks to my rubbing, I happened to get an eyelash into one of my eyes.

I happened to have unusually long eyelashes for a boy so I got them in my eyes quite often, but this really didn't help much right now.  
Damn, it stings!  
Wait a second…! Stings…!

"I have it! It's a needle!"

"Again, your answer is correct. Now the third riddle isn't actually a riddle, but a test of your strength. Your task is to defeat the monsters within the time limit."

What?!  
But as the voice finished talking the one-eyed giant in front of me roared and the ground opened up again.  
The corpses – zombies – from before emerged from it again.  
Almost as if on reflex, I grabbed the rod from my pocket again and prepared to defend myself.

The zombies were annoying, but quite easy to defeat.  
Only their great number was wasting my limited time a bit.  
The cyclops however proved to be much more of a problem.  
I had to carefully evade its attacks as a single hit would most likely crush me to pieces.

"You have five seconds left." The voice rang out again and really set me into a hurry, but this time I kept my focus and started moving as if fighting was the most normal thing for me.

As the giant swung down at me again, I jumped to the side.  
Then I used the short moment in which it had its upper body lowered and jumped up on its arm and then thrusted the rod in its single eye, destroying the monster in one hit and right on the last second, too.

"Congratulation. You've solved all three tasks, Yugi Mutou." with those words a woman appeared before me.

"My name is Ishizu Ishtar." the woman, which was also the owner of the voice introduced herself. "For your victory, you shall have this key to one of the ancient ruins. The ruin, which is the closest to us, which is built into the cliff…"

While saying that, she handed me some sort of amulet with a red gem in its middle.  
Then she continued on without giving me a chance to get a word in.

"I have the ability to foresee the future-"

I guess that explained, how she knew what was going on with me and my grandpa and why she sent Marik to do something about it…

"-and the catastrophe, the comet, is nearing the planet."

Again, that talk with the comet…  
That's what that Shadi-guy had been talking about and also when I heard the voice of my father…

"Yugi, your mission is to find the ancient ruins and collect all pieces of the sennen-puzzle. With it you must save the planet like it had been intended to be done once, 3000 years ago."

"The sennen-puzzle…?"

Could this be the puzzle that the king and queen had wanted?

"Please go now. Time is of essence. The closer the comet gets, the worse will the changes that happen be."

"Uh… wait a second! I…"

But before I had the chance to ask any questions she vanished as she came.  
It was just like that guy, Shadi, did it in the dungeon.  
As if they just turned into a shadow that faded away in the surrounding darkness…

"Um… hello?" my voice echoed through the halls of the temple, but there was no answer.

With a sigh, I decided to leave again.  
Might as well try to check out that ruin that I got this strange 'key' to.  
Maybe that way I would be able to find out some more about that 'sennen-puzzle'.  
Just as I left the temple, I happened to run into Marik.

"I'll take you to the ruin." he offered.

I felt like questioning how he knew about that, but in the end decided against it.  
Actually, my plan was to go to the ruin alone, so I wouldn't unnecessarily endanger my friends, but I had to admit that I'm kind of relieved at Marik's offer.  
Besides I didn't even know which way to go to get to that ruin.  
So, I gratefully accept and together we left.

Our goal was the ancient ruins that were built into the cliff and was said to host a legendary ship made out of pure gold!

* * *

AN: Whew, and this ends the pilot-chapter of "Illusions of Shadows".  
I know it's pretty unusual for me to make the first chapter this long, but don't worry the following ones will be shorter.

As for the part with the three riddles: I was in two minds about just using Shadi's shadow game from the manga, but in the end decided against it. I still did keep the first one (I just liked it too much and thought I might lead you on a bit in letting you guys believe that you'll already know what riddles are coming), the second one was picked by myself (I hope it wasn't too cheesy, but I wanted Yugi also in a situation where he would lose his concentration for a moment and panic a bit – I mean if I were to stand in front of an ugly Hitotsu-Me and have him stare at me I would lose my cool, too) and the third one was taken from the actual game.  
Also, the monsters I'm using in this story are supposed to be Duel Monster even if I didn't name them in this chapter. For those of you who didn't recognize them: the ones in the dungeon where "Shadow Ghoul" and "Dungeon Worm". And the ones from the last task where "Armored Zombie" and "Hitotsu-Me Giant".

At any rate, writing this whole chapter in first-person-view was kind of hard for me.  
And I won't be using this for the next chapters… well, maybe for some but then from the perspective of other persons, just don't expect that to happen too often.  
Honestly, I didn't even plan to write it like that when I wrote the outline for the story, but as I started the chapter it just snuck in there and then I didn't feel like changing it in the middle of the chapter.

Well, anyways… I hope you liked it.  
And sorry for any mistakes that are probably still in there (I edited this very loosely since I was mostly busy with fixing the tenses in this one – you have no idea -_-).  
As I said this story is still heavily WIP, but it would be cool if you left me a comment to let me know what you thought of it and if you guys even want me to continue the story. Maybe it would motivate my muse enough to overcome my writer's block, too ^_^

Till then


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